Junior Year at Pallet High
by Champion's Court
Summary: Ash, Dawn, May, Gary, Drew and Leaf are best friends, but start to fall apart in high school. After a rough summer, Ash is looking forward to school and studying, but his first day is rather eventful. Little does he know that he is going to have the most interesting year of his life. AU, One-shot series, lots of shippings. Pearl, Chess, Visor, Leafgreen/Oldrival read to see others!
1. What does Love Feel like?

**Hi everyone! I realized that there wasn't any highschool themed Pearlshipping stories being updated very often and I secretly love them and I hate myself for it, but I decided to try writing one. I think that I will write these in a series of one-shots, focusing mainly on a single ship at a time and wrap it up with a 'prom' where all of the characters will have dates and there will be drama and all of the other things that go along with these high school stories. Don't expect super recent updates with this, cause I just had a lot of time to write this since I was sick this week and it sucks but this helps me take my mind off of it.**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**Court**

* * *

Hi. My name is Ash Ketchum and I am probably the most clueless, hopeless and clumsy guy in my entire school. With other people, that is. I'm a great student. (A.N. JUST ROLL WITH IT) It does help that I spent countless days with my friend's grandpa, Samuel Oak, who was a scientist. Thanks to him I got a really early start with math and science to the point of me being about a level ahead of pretty much everyone in my grade in those classes. And that's not it. My mom started me really early on reading and in second grade, the teacher told me that I read at a seventh grade level. That year I was known as 'bookworm' or just 'worm' for short. That's the year also that I decided who were my friends, based entirely on who didn't laugh at the nickname. First, there was my next door neighbor, Gary Oak. Then Drew LaRousse whose dad was a scientist like Gary's uncle. Then there was Leaf Green who was practically my sister since she was living with my mom and I. Her parents died young and my mom was the only godparent left since my dad died when I was in first grade. Then there was May Maple, whose dad was a famous retired athlete. And finally, my best friend, Dawn Berlitz. Our moms are practically inseparable so she was always over at my house with me when Leaf was off with May.

It was with these friends that I completed elementary school with, powered through middle school with and started high school with. Despite how tight we were as kids, we started drifting apart. May was an athlete. She played as many sports as she could, so she was always busy with practices. She still hung out with us though, even if it was not as frequent. Dawn got really involved in choir and the school musicals and plays. So she was even busier with that. I tried to remain in contact but usually she just fell asleep right when she got home. When we did talk it was usually really brief and rushed, with me heading to the library and her heading to the choir hall. But she always got the five of us free tickets and we would relax together after her shows. Those were the only times that we all came together as a group during our freshmen year. Then Drew and Gary got involved with sports and it seemed like the guys' sports were even more demanding then the girls' were because suddenly, it was just May, Leaf and I. So our little group hobbled along sophomore year, with a stunning total of one full meeting and by the end of first semester it had broken down completely.

Everyone else was able to fit right in with other groups, Gary and Drew with the jocks, May with the girl jocks and cheerleaders, Dawn with her theatre friends and Leaf with the other smart kids. And, surprise, surprise, I failed completely to join a group. I tried hanging with each of their groups. The jocks didn't go bad but not great. See, I'm rather fit for a smarter kid, but I didn't understand team sports at all. So I sat there awkwardly as they discussed the latest football, basketball and baseball scores. Next was the cheerleaders. Nope. Not at all. First of all, these were the 'popular' girls. So they _dressed _like popular girls. I found myself spending far too much time looking at the skin tight leggings that they wore and their low cut tops. I removed myself before they did. Next, the theatre kids. It was great hanging out with Dawn, but the kids randomly broke out into song several times a day, leaving me extremely confused. Plus there was this kid named Kenny who was always flirting with Dawn, blocking me out. I left before I punched him in the face. And then we come to the last and easily the worst group, the smart kids. Don't get me wrong, there are some great people there like Cilan and Brock, but everyone else was really annoying, talking about grades and their GPAs and which college had the best such and such department or a certain professor who was at the top of his or her field. Plus they always looked at me dirtily when I mentioned my perfect 5.0 weighted GPA. Which was far too often because they always seemed to forget and had to ask again. Or maybe they didn't believe me and were trying to catch me off guard.

All of my options exhausted, I turned to my studies. As a sophomore, I was taking IB classes and getting high A's in all of them. When summer finally rolled around, my mom surprised Leaf and I with a visit to both our grandparents. It was great, or it would have been, if the day after we left, I got a text from Dawn asking me to meet her at the mall. So, I had to decline and she went with that Kenny kid. When school rolled around again, I was grateful. After a summer of staying with your grandparents, getting extremely annoyed with them, and then feeling like an insensitive bastard when they died, I wanted to get lost in my studies.

And now, to the amazingly weird, hilarious and mathematically illogical year of my life. Junior Year.

* * *

The First Day

I drove up in my simple black SUV and parked in the outer 'junior' lot. I turned off the car and grabbed my phone, wallet, backpack and schedule from their various resting places and walked into the school. I glanced about at all of the posters that had been set up before glancing down at my schedule. _Let's see, first period is... IB Chemistry. _I walked to the science hall, making my way through the freshmen who were clogging the halls. When I arrived, I noticed Cilan in the middle of the classroom. He waved me over and we started talking. I was deliberately vague about my holiday, mentioning only that I had stayed with my grandparents for a couple of reasons. First, It's too soon to drop the _My Grandparents died _bomb, and second, I don't want to be treated special just because my grandparents died. In fact, the only person in school who knew about my grandparents was Leaf and I had asked her to stay quiet about it. Anyways, around a minute before the bell, Leaf walked in and we shared a friendly smile though I could tell that she was worried about me. Her eyes scanned me for any sign of distress. Over the summer, I had perfected my poker face and Leaf knew this but she still searched for subtle clues. She walked over and greeted Cilan and plopped down on the other side of me. Leaf grabbed my hand in a reassuring way and we exchanged a quick glance when I noticed that Dawn had walked in. I nudged Leaf and she noticed Dawn and we waved her over. For some reason, Leaf got up and sat on the other side of Cilan so Dawn could sit next to me. I shot a puzzled look at Leaf and she just winked at me. Dawn tapped my arm and it felt more like an electric shock than anything. I looked over at her and she smiled at me. I couldn't help but smile back.

"So... How was the summer-"

"Miss Berlitz, may I now remind you that you are in an IB level class? Your behavior should reflect that."

She looked up, her cheeks slightly pink, having been cut off by the teacher. The teacher turned around and headed back to the board, as Dawn slipped me a note. _Talk later, my house after school?_ I looked at her and nodded. After an absolutely _riveting_ period of atoms and molecules, the teacher broke the news to us. We had a partner paper that would be due at the end of the semester and she would be pairing us up with partners. Then the bell rang and she dismissed us, saying that we would get paired up tomorrow. Dawn waited for me at the door and asked what my schedule was. We compared and noticed that we had every class together. We smiled and high fived and headed off to our next class, IB Latin. Nothing really happened in that class, apart from us being assigned seats on the other side of the room. As I took notes, I noticed that she always seemed to be either looking at the teacher and taking notes or looking at me. _Why would she be looking at me? _I wondered. Then a girl next to me nudged me and slipped me a piece of paper. I looked at her, bewildered. She winked. I stole a quick glance at Dawn, who was now staring straight ahead, her lips pursed. I pocketed the paper as the bell rang. Dawn once again waited for me at the door, despite the glare she shot at me. I put my hands up in surrender as I walked up and her gaze softened from steel-hard to rock-hard. We started walking to LA when I felt a tap on my arm. It was the same girl from Latin who gave me that piece of paper. I noticed Dawn tense up out of the corner of my eye. I looked at the girl who had red hair and green eyes. She was kind of pretty but shorter than Dawn and I who were less than an inch apart, height wise.

"Hello?"

"Hi! You're Ash, right?" I was confused enough by the fact that this girl started the conversation with me, but when she knew my name I was even more befuddled. I looked at Dawn uncertainly. She saw my discomfort and she smiled faintly before her eyes hardened again.

"Ash, this is Misty. She is in Choir with me." I waved hello briefly and Misty drew close, batting her eyes.

I was saved by Dawn pulling me into the LA classroom. I shot her a grateful look and she winked at me. I felt oddly warm all of a sudden as I noticed a green haired boy laughing at me. I was standing in the middle of the classroom while the teacher looked quizzically at me. I jumped and ran over to Drew who had claimed a group of desks. In front of him, May and Dawn were chatting animatedly. I sat in the last seat and started joking around with Drew. Instead of the usual IB teachers who immediately got started on notes, our teacher had us talk in our groups about the summer reading. Nobody actually discussed the book and me and Drew spent the period just teasing Dawn and May about the things that they did over the summer. Dawn had apparently gone on a couple dates with that kid Kenny, but when he tried to kiss her, she freaked and never talked to him the rest of the summer. When May and Drew started flirting, Dawn turned to me.

"So, how was the summer with the Grandparents? We didn't have time to talk in Chem." I felt a small tear form in my eye. Dawn noticed this and grabbed my hand.

"Ash? What's up?"

"I'll tell you after school. Do you need a ride over? I've got my car." I dangled my keys in front of her, trying to distract her. She looked at me suspiciously, but decided to let it go.

"Sure, I just walked over this morning." We looked up as May squealed _very_ loud. The room fell silent as May and Drew both blushed. Drew had been tickling May and poked her in a sensitive place. The teacher just laughed and told everyone to resume.

"What's your guys' off periods? I've got fifth off with Gary." Drew spoke up, still slightly pink from the embarrassment of the awkward silence.

"Ash and I have fifth off, too! We should hang out, get the group together again!" I nodded, hiding my disbelief.

"So does Leaf. And that would be great."

"Me too! We should grab a table in the Student Center!" My eyes flew open. I _HATED _the student center. I avoided it at all costs, even going as far as to ask for a locker that wasn't in the Student Center. The others laughed at my obvious discomfort. Drew flipped his hair

"Come on, Ash. It's not that bad. Besides, the group wouldn't be the same without you!" I shook my head, shaking visibly. Dawn grabbed my arm and it took all of my willpower to not flinch at the sudden jolt that ran through me again.

"Please, Ash? For m... us?" She blushed and let go of my arm quickly. I ceded and agreed to the table in the Student Center. Drew texted Gary and May texted Leaf as I poked Dawn in the side, causing her to jump. The bell rang as she squealed, masking the noise. She pushed me playfully as we made our way to World History. We were chatting as we walked into the class, grabbing two of the desks along the wall. We lounged against the wall as Kenny and Misty walked into the class. We exchanged looks as they made their way over to us, Misty sitting next to me and Kenny next to Dawn. Now, that was the most awkward class I have ever been in. Dawn and I sat there, taking notes as Misty and Kenny did there best to distract us. When Misty leaned really close, I finally asked her to stop and then she just sat in her desk, spine straight like a board. When class ended, she just got up and left without looking back at us. It looked like Kenny wanted to walk with Dawn, so she walked up to the teacher, nudging me as she did. So I walked up with her and we got into a discussion about the notes of the day. After a minute for us talking, Kenny just stomped off and we carefully extracted ourselves from the conversation.

We walked into the Student Center, my entire body screaming at me, but Dawn had grabbed my wrist to keep me from backing away. Gary waved us over and we sat at the last two seats of the table. Leaf, May, Drew and Gary were already there. We just talked, goofed around, and had a great time in general. By the end of the period, I was at ease even though random people occasionally stopped and talked with us. I met more people in that one period than I had the entire first two years of high school. There was Iris, a purple haired cheerleader; Cilan, the green haired boy in my Chem class; Brock, who looked like he was always squinting; Paul, who played football and basketball with Drew and Gary; Barry and Bianca who were twins with bright blonde hair and more energy than the local power plant; Lyra, who had awkwardly announced to the group that Dawn and I would make a great couple, causing Kenny and Misty to go stomping off; Cheren who was very quiet but was always with Bianca which was rather odd since he seemed to be the exact opposite of her; and Tracey who was a really good artist and had been inspired by Lyra to draw Dawn and I together. The resulting picture was really well done but EXTREMELY embarrassing. Then we met Hilda, Hilbert, Rosa and Nate who were all very stylishly dressed but literally the nicest people I'd ever met.

I went to math with Dawn, Hilbert and Hilda who were both in our math class. We all sat together in math and we just sat there as we took notes. Halfway through the class, the teacher gave us our homework assignment and we did it, occasionally exchanging answers. With a few minutes left in class, we'd all finished our homework. So, like any normal teenagers, we started talking. It turns out that those two have been dating since freshmen year and they were both looking into an engineering job of some sort. When they asked if either of us were dating someone, I responded quickly, saying that I wasn't. But Dawn took a longer time to respond. Hilda laughed.

"How long?" _How long? What kind of question was that? _I looked up and noticed that all three of them were looking at me. I automatically pulled out my phone and checked my reflection, fearing that there was food on my face. Right then I got a text from Leaf who was asking me what we were going to have for dinner. As I responded to her, Dawn spoke.

"Middle School." Hilbert nodded as he chuckled. He wrote two numbers on a couple slips of paper. He slid them to us, addressing Dawn.

"Well if you ever get through that thick skull of his, call us up. The only other couple in our grade is Nate and Rosa and you can only go on so many double dates with the same people." I hit the send button and looked up and everyone was still looking at me.

"What?" Hilbert and Hilda laughed as Dawn facepalmed. They spoke in harmony as the bell rang.

"Good luck Dawn. You'll need it." We waved them off as they went to Chemistry. Dawn and I walked in silence as we went to Catering, our only extracurricular class. As we walked into the class, broke the silence, assuming that I did something wrong.

"Sorry?" Dawn jumped and looked at me funny.

"Why are you saying sorry?"

"'Cause I assumed that you were mad at me. You just kept shooting me fervent looks as we walked in silence."

"Oh, sorry. I guess I just had something on my mind."

"Oh, okay."

While we were talking, Leaf and Gary had walked in and sat at our table. They were looking at us, amused.

"What? What are you thinking?" I demanded as Gary smirked at me. He smiled.

"I'm thinking that Lyra was right at lunch." I froze and felt my cheeks heat up. Before I could respond, the teacher spoke up.

"Okay, class. Listen up. We are starting simple today. We are making cookies. The groups that you are in are your groups for the rest of the year. The recipes are on the front table and all of the ingredients in the kitchen." There was a sudden flurry of movement as the entire class jumped up and grabbed everything that they needed for the chocolate chip cookies. We were working at our designated kitchen when Gary decided to flick some flour at Leaf. He apparently had grabbed quite a bit, because by the time the flour had settled, it looked like she had died and come back as a ghost, since she was entirely covered, down to the last inch of her waist length hair.

"GARY OAK! I HATE YOU!" She chased him out of the room as he cackled like a jackal. Dawn and I cracked up as the entire class looked on in bewilderment. Even the teacher looked slightly amused. I took a strangled gasp.

"Those two are so in love. Right?"

"Haha, yep!" Dawn responded with a little less enthusiasm. I felt a sprinkling on my head. Dawn had sprinkled flour over my jet black hair, making it look like I had just aged fifty years. She hugged me from behind and put her phone out in front of us. My cheeks went bright red and I started mumbling like a crazy person when she put her head on my shoulder and snapped a photo. She showed it to me and whispered in my ear.

"This is going on Instagram." I blushed and mumbled a bit more when she kissed on the cheek. My knees gave way and I wound up sitting against the cabinet, in a daze. I could hear Gary and Leaf come back in. Leaf giggled.

"What happened to Ash?"

"He had a run in with some flour and me." I heard Dawn giggle again. Soon I smelled cookies and jumped up, almost causing Gary to fall over. We pulled the cookies out and Gary had to physically restrain me to stop me from eating all the cookies. We divided them up evenly and when we left class, Dawn had a bag of piping hot cookies in her backpack, while I had a scalded tongue and an empty bag. We walked over to my car and we buckled in and I reached to plug my phone into the auxiliary cable to find that Dawn had already grabbed it and was scrolling through her music. I groaned.

"Nothing too girly plea- You're insecure, don't know what for, you're turning heads when you walk through the d-o-oor." I forced my mouth shut but it was too late. Dawn was looking at me with an expression of awe. Not exactly what you'd expect to see after revealing that you knew One Direction.

"Why didn't you tell me you could sing?!"

"Huh? I can sing?"

"Oh my god, yes! You're better than most of the guys in choir. What else can you do?"

"Uhh... Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5 sometimes, I can't hit really high notes. Royals, and a few other songs. Where's your house?" We stopped at a red light. She put on Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.

"You still live in the same place, right?"

"Yeah?"

"My mom and I just moved in at the corner of the street at the beginning of the summer."

"WHAT? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried! I asked you to come to the mall. But you had just left to see your grandparents. By the way, how are they doing? I think I met them once when they came out here." I clenched my hands on the wheel and, luckily for me, the vocals began on the song and I sang along. Dawn joined me and we somehow were able to harmonize perfectly. When I pulled into her driveway, she turned the song off.

"Wow."

"We were harmonizing really well there."

"Really well? It was perfect! It took me and Kenny a couple months to get even close to that." My heart soared after that comment, having shown up Kenny. We climbed out of the car and walked up to the front door. Johanna, Dawn's mom stood at the doorway, her arms crossed. I waved at her.

"Hi Johanna." She dropped her arms to her sides and looked at me with a surprised air. I guess I'm surprising all of the Berlitz's today.

"Ash?"

"Yep!"

"It's great to see you! It's been far too long! I'll call Delia and tell her that you're over here." She rushed off.

"Umm... Thanks?" Dawn raided her cabinets and pulled out a massive bag a chips as I plopped down on the couch. She opened them up and held them out. I grabbed a handful and grunted gratefully.

"So, how was the summer? Truthfully. I could tell that you were holding out on Hilbert and Hilda." She poked my cheek with a chip, earning her a chuckle from me.

"Okay. It was honestly a horrible summer. It was just me and my mom since we had dropped Leaf off at her grandparents. My grandma has an annoying habit of watching television the entire day with the volume cranked up, while my grandpa is a total neat freak. They were really getting on my nerves since I was cooped up with them for a couple months. A-and then-" My voice cracked and a tear leaked from my eye. Dawn put her hand on my shoulder and I looked up, my bloodshot eyes meeting hers. I had never noticed how blue they were until now. She reached up and wiped a tear away with her free hand. She spoke softly.

"What? What happened?"

"They-they died. Less than two weeks ago." I heard a small gasp and she wrapped her arms around me. I gratefully hugged her back, catching a wiff of a familiar scent. Vanilla. Ever since elementary school smelled like vanilla. When I asked her about it she told me that it was her shampoo and it was her favorite flavor of ice cream.

"Who else knows?"

"Leaf."

"No one else?"

I shook my head. She hugged me even tighter.

"I'm sorry, Ash."

"Thanks." We sat there. Not doing anything, just... sitting. It was nice. Suddenly, Misty's face popped into my head.

"Dawn?"

"Mmm?"

"Why did Misty know my name? And why is she so interested in me?" Dawn chuckled.

"Remember when you tried hanging out with me and the theatre kids last year? You caught her eye and she noticed that you only really talked to me. So she asked me. And as to why she's interested in you? You're attractive, Ash. Almost all the girls in school think you're hot. And they always are bugging me about you." I drew my head back in amazement.

"Me? A lonely kid who can't make friends worth a damn?"

"What about Hilda? Hilbert? Cilan? Brock? You just met all of those kids today."

"I already knew Cilan and Brock." An odd thought came to me.

"When did you get so smart?" She drew away and glared at me.

"Ash, that's not something you say to people."

"What? Why?" She giggled.

"Because it's rude."

"Oh... Okay. Sorry." She giggled again.

"But not even kidding, you are attractive Mr. Ketchum. You have that..." She searched for a word, looking up at her ceiling. "Allure."

"Allure?"

"'Cause you're so distant. Lots of girls want to see why you're so distant."

"Okay, I can see 'distant', but people think I'm 'hot'?"

"Lots of people, yeah."

"Why?" She arched her eyebrow at me.

"You're toned, but not a muscle bound freak. You hair is just messy enough that it gives you a ruffled look. And, my god, your eyes. The brown is like the melted chocolate in a cookie." As she talked, her cheeks went from pink to red to maroon, though she maintained eye contact and I also felt my cheeks heating up. She continued and raised a hand to my cheek.

"But that's not even close to all. The way that you are always so polite to everyone apart from Gary and Drew. How you don't let anything bother you. Your unwavering drive and motivation. And your absolute cluelessness when it come to people and how you can't tell the difference between being nice and flirting."

"Those sound like drawbacks, not like benefits."

"I guess, but that's why I-" She cut herself short. Once again in this odd, awesome and confusing day, I was confused.

"Why what?"

"Wh-why I... fell in love with you." She blushed and turned away. I felt like I just ran five miles. My breathing was short.

"Y-you love _me_?"

"Yes. That's what Hilda, Hilbert and I were talking about in math. But when someone like Misty is flirting with you, I feel so inadequate." I suddenly looked at Dawn in a completely different way than I ever had before. I noticed her long, silky blue hair. Her amazingly slim body. Her delicate facial features. She was more than just my best friend for eight years. She had grown into a beautiful woman.

"Dawn... You'd never be inadequate. You're beautiful." She looked back at me with a tear in her eye. I brushed it away with a thumb as I cupped her cheek. She held my gaze for a few seconds before looking down. I raised her chin up, looking into her sapphire blue eyes.

"Dawn, you're my best friend in the world. I am clueless about people and I guess I just never caught the signs that my own body was sending me. Whenever Kenny was flirting with you, my stomach churned and everyday I told my mom that I thought I ate something bad. Every time you touch me, it's like someone zapped me and I am acutely aware of everything that you do. When you purse your lips when Misty passed me that piece of paper, how you always seem to blush when I compliment you. When I blush around you, I always think that I'm sick, but then I'm fine. What does this mean?"

"I-I think that sounds like love." Then there was a click in my brain. I looked at the beautiful girl who I'd always thought of as a friend in a new light. I ran my hand down her side, feeling her curves as she shuddered at my touch. I leaned in close to her, so close that our lips were brushing.

"Then... I think that I love you too, Dawn." I closed the distance between us as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Our lips met and for a while we kissed ever so softly. I could feel all of her, melting into me as my mind had a single thought. _This was... right. _Then, a sudden urge flared up in me and I brought both of my hands up to her face, cupping her frail cheeks as I deepened the kiss. She responded eagerly, pulling me so close that our legs got tangled. I was lost in this girl who I'd known forever as we kissed. I could hear her heartbeat, pounding against my chest. I noticed everything about her. The slight taste of chocolate chip cookies on her lips, the small gasp that she occasionally gave when I took a breath. We were so lost in each other that we never heard the door open, the footsteps of two women, their giggles as they talked. A camera flashed and it blinded me. We broke apart reluctantly and looked up. Johanna was standing in front of us, a hand over her mouth and next to her stood my mother who held a camera. Dawn and I flushed a deep red. We started mumbling, making no sense. Johanna laughed and looked at my mom.

"Well it took them long enough." My mom grinned right back.

"It certainly did." They walked off, looking at the picture that my mom took. I looked at Dawn, not knowing what to expect. She spoke.

"Hang on." She pinched her arm. Then she reached out and put her hands on my face, tracing my mouth, nose and eyes. She nodded, satisfied, but she didn't remove her hands and started playing with my hair.

"What was that about?" She leaned forward.

"I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't dreaming."

* * *

**Okay just a quick request to any of you artists out there, could anyone draw the picture that Dawn took of her and Ash after she put flour in his hair cause as I wrote this, I just could tell it would be, like, the best Pearlshipping pic EVER. PRETTY PLEASE? ANYBODY? I WILL BE SO HAPPY AND STUFF.**


	2. Leaves in the Fall

I woke up to a buzzing phone at 2:30 in the morning. I fumbled around on my desk, knocking the various random things that were on it off. My phone, my calculator, my cup of pens, a spoon, a couple pairs of sunglasses... what was I looking for? My phone buzzed again and I jumped as I opened my eyes. The bright screen temporarily blinded me. I grabbed my phone and rubbed my eyes with my free hand as I answered the incoming call.

"Hello?" I heard a mumble from the phone. I was so tired that I couldn't decipher what the person said. Yawning, I spoke again.

"Hello?"

"GARY!" I jumped as the familiar voice shouted in my ear.

"Leaf, it's two-fucking-thirty in the morning. What?" I tried to harden my voice, but I was too tired and it was _Leaf_. It's hard to get mad at her without my entire mind trying at the same time. Right now, three-quarters of my brain was in favor of just going back to sleep.

"Hi!"

"Hi? You called me at this ungodly hour to say hi?"

"Yup!" I heard a confused moan from her end.

"Ash, just go to bed. I've got insomnia, remember?" I heard an assenting grumble and her door closed.

"You're waking up Ash, too. You know he hates that."

"Whatever. He won't remember, he got home two hours ago from his double date with Dawn and Hilbert and Hilda."

Yeah, you heard what I heard. Ash Ketchum, A.K.A. the densest kid in the world, was dating Dawn, the hottest girl in school. Apart from the extremely annoying brunette on the other end of the line, but don't tell her I said that. They'd been going strong since the first day of school, about a month ago. Either they were still in the 'honeymoon' phase of the relationship or they were, like, soulmates or something. They never argued, Ash was to dense to intentionally flirt with other girls and Dawn only had eyes for him. If a girl started flirting with Ash, Dawn would chuckle at her boyfriend's discomfort and, when the girl had walked away, usually leaving him a piece of paper, she told him that the girl was flirting with him. He still had trouble with it, "But, all she did was poke me." or "She just said that I was cute." and everyone would laugh. Since they hadn't announced it on Facebook, the only people who knew about the relationship was our small group of friends, which had grown to include Hilbert and his girlfriend, Hilda, and Nate and his girlfriend Rosa.

"Leaf, why the actual fuck did you find it necessary to call me in the middle of the night?"

"Ooop, gotta go! Bye Gary!"

"Leaf, wait!"

"What?"

"I hate you." I hung up and slumped onto my bed, falling asleep.

* * *

I walked out to the place where my friends and I hang out as I talked with Drew. Everyone else was already there, laughing at the most recent lesson in flirting that Dawn gave to Ash. Apparently Misty had been playing with his hoodie strings during History and he asked what she was doing, rather loudly, embarrassing her in front of the entire class. Dawn felt so bad that she had invited Misty to have lunch with us. I didn't mind really, she certainly wasn't ugly, nothing compared to Leaf of course, (You tell her, I kill you) but still rather attractive. She kept shooting Ash looks as he and Dawn traded hats, tweaking each others' noses in the process. I could help myself as I heard them laughing. I smiled and laughed along with them. I guess they didn't know that I was there, so everyone looked at me, slightly startled. I grinned and took a seat, sticking my tongue out at Leaf. She stuck her tongue out, right back at me.

Okay, so let me explain. What do you have to explain, you might ask. Okay, so get this. This fall, there's this movie coming out. You might have heard of it, it's called _The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug_. Why is this news, you might ask. Oh, no reason apart from the fact that Ash mentioned that he and Dawn, along with Hilbert, Hilda, Nate and Rosa were going and he said that if I got a date, I could come. When I asked why they weren't going to Catching Fire, he shrugged and Dawn ran up.

"SNUGGLES!" She jumped on Ash and he caught her deftly, so it looked like he was giving her a piggy back ride apart from the fact that she was on the wrong side of him. His face was pressed completely into her chest, a position that most guys would kill to be in. But, Ash being Ash, he just lowered her to the ground, tweaked her nose and ruffled her hair, laughing. They both seemed completely unaware about the awkwardness of the previous position.

So, that was a week ago and the movie was coming out in December, so plenty of time to get a date, right? Wrong. There was only one girl that I wanted to go with and just this morning, she woke me up at 2:30 in the morning for fun. You could definitely tell that I was falling hard for her and her for me... I think. I mean I'm Gary Oak, the starting quarterback for the football team. Of course she liked me, right? I might seem confident, but I'm actually super nervous. I'd asked out many girls before but this time was different. I didn't have any qualms about getting turned down, but with Leaf, even talking with her was tricky. I didn't want to mess this up.

Lunch was uneventful apart from the various glances that Leaf was giving me. The girl who Ash embarrassed, Misty kept trying to talk to me and I just talked back as Leaf and I made faces at each other. The bell rang and I waved everyone off, heading to my science class. I heard someone call my name and when I turned around, Misty was standing there with another red head who I didn't know. She had sharp features and a shapely body, A.K.A. she had nice tits. (Sorry for the description, but it is Gary) She looked a bit like Scarlett Johanson as Black Widow in The Avengers, apart from the fact that, y'know, she wasn't... Scarlett Johanson. I cocked an eyebrow at Misty.

"This is Zoey. She's a new student and I think you have the same science class as her." Her question was implied. I nodded, looking at Zoey.

"I'll show you where it is." Misty beamed and waved as she stuffed a piece of paper in my hand. She walked off with a hop in her step. I looked at Zoey out of the corner of my eye to find her checking me out. No big deal, just something every girl does... except for Leaf. Sigh, Leaf, why are you confusing? Zoey poked my arm, giving me a sultry glare.

"Soooo... Science?" I shook myself, snapping me out of my reverie.

"Ye-yeah, this way." We walked to science as I made polite conversation with her. She was from Snowpoint City, up north and she didn't know anyone here, but her parents moved here after getting a job offer from the local business firm. We walked into Science and I introduced her to the teacher who, after we started class, in turn introduced her to class. I sat in the back of the class, annoying Paul as the teacher droned on about the periodic table. His eyes kept flicking to the new girl, Zoey and each time he caught himself, clenching his right hand while taking notes. I noticed this and nudged him, daring him to make a move. He rolled his eyes and inclined his head, barely noticeable.

When the bell rang, he made his way over to Zoey and started chatting her up. Soon, both of them were grinning and she beckoned him closer. He leaned his head down and she smacked him. He was stunned as she winked at him and walked off. Completely floored with a mixture of amusement and astonishment, I walked up.

"Well?" He moved quickly, so fast I couldn't see what happened, but I felt a sharp pain on my cheek. He grinned as I raised a hand to my face.

"Got her number." He walked off. I was so confused by what had just happened that it took a freshman running into me to snap me out of my reverie. I shot a glare at the kid who apologized quickly. I started off to Catering with the lovebirds and Leaf. Just what I needed. Fifty stressful minutes of infuriating Leaf while not getting her too pissed at me. Joy.

I walked in to the class, flashing a quick grin at Ash and Dawn and winking at Leaf who just stuck her tongue out at me. Today, we got to make bread from scratch, so after ten minute of making the dough, we tossed it into the oven and had time to goof off. Ash and Dawn just sat next each other, doing homework. Or, well, Dawn was doing homework while Ash explained how to calculate differential equations to her. Occasionally, a turquoise haired girl threw a paper ball at him. Either he didn't care or he just couldn't feel them, because he never turned around to look at her. Personally, I'd say it was the second of the two options. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my table. Leaf was sitting next to me and was looking at me with an expectant gaze. I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it when I noticed the quiet room. I gestured with my head at the door. She shrugged and got up, exiting the room. I waited awhile before getting out of my seat as well. Good thing the teacher really doesn't care what we do as long as we don't burn the bread. Dawn'll get it I'd guess, but then again, Ash isn't one to forget food.

When I found Leaf outside she folded her arms. "What do you want, Gare-Bear?" I flashed a quick grin at the new nickname. God, she's clever.

"Hey, Leafy."

"Porcupine head."

"Aspen Grove."

"G- Aspen Grove?"

"They have leaves." I shrugged. She rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head. I leaned on the wall, chuckling. She leaned next to me and looked at me.

"Well?"

"I'm tired, y'know that?"

"Really? Why?" She said in a mocking voice.

"A girl called me last night."

"REALLY. Who?" She drew up closer to me. I felt the heat of her body on my arms, the whisper of her breath on my cheeks. It took all of my willpower to keep myself from kissing her there, but I had a plan.

"She's got long hair."

"So not Misty." This comment took me completely off guard.

"Misty?"

"Well, yeah. She's sweet on you. She's a bit of a flirt."

"So that's why she gave me her number." I pulled out the piece of paper that she had shoved in my hand and showed it to Leaf. I thought I saw a flicker of indecision in her eyes, but it disappeared faster than it had come. She shrugged as I pocketed the paper.

"Anyways, we both know you called me last night. But only you know why. I think, unless May's psychic."

"And you want to know why?"

"Well, yeah. That's why I asked."

"I wanted to annoy you."

"Is there a day where you don't annoy me?"

"I don't know. Is there, Oak?" At this she stood in front of me, looking up into my eyes. God, she's making this hard. I managed to keep a straight face. I looked at her slyly.

"No." She came even closer, making me shiver.

"Good." She opened her lips just slightly and I bent my head down to meet her. Our lips barely touched before I heard Ash and Dawn.

"Gary?"

"Leaf?"

They came around the corner and froze, completely stunned at the sight of me and Leaf so close. Leaf quickly punched me in the gut and laughed as I doubled over in pain.

"Gotcha, Gare-Bear!" I looked up at Leaf, not sure what to expect. You could imagine my surprise when I saw concern and disappointment in her eyes. She mouthed something at me that looked like _'I'm sorry.'_ and she turned and walked past Ash and Dawn. She grabbed Dawn and walked into the classroom. Ash walked up to me.

"What, was that?" He cocked his eyebrow in confusion. I sat up, gasping. I looked after the girls.

"I... I don't know."

* * *

By the time that we got out of school, it was raining and it soaked Leaf and I to the bone since we had to walk. Ash and Dawn had the last period off, so they always left early. I had considered putting my arm around Leaf to keep her, and myself warm, but I was still confused about what had happened during Catering. Better not push it. I walked her to her and Ash's house, who was over at Dawn's down the street. If it was anyone but Ash, I'd guess that they were doing unspeakable things, but Ash probably doesn't even know babies are made. Well, that's mean, but still they probably were just snuggling. I said bye to Leaf and turned to walk home when she grabbed me. She kissed me on the cheek and ran inside saying something about homework. God she's confusing.

When I walked into my house, my grandpa welcomed me home.

"Hey Gramps. Doing good?"

"Yep! I just got some information about that Amazonian monkey that I was telling you about yesterday."

"Cool. Sorry to run, but I've got some homework to do."

"Okay, just make sure to keep your grades up."

"Okay!" I ran upstairs and started my homework. After I finished math and was about halfway done with science, I got a text from Ash.

_You seen Leaf?_

**No, Why?**

_She's not here._

**Huh, weird. Want help looking?**

_Na, she probably just went to the library._

**K. **

I set my phone down and looked at it. I picked it up again. I selected Leaf's messaging conversation.

**Where r u? Ash and Delia seem worried. **

Seconds later I got a reply.

_Meet me at the park in ten_

**K. Why?**

_Just do as youre told Gare-Bear._

I looked up directions to the park. It was ten minutes away. I shook my head and ran out the door as my grandpa waved me off. It's not like this behavior is odd from me. Okay, don't do what I did and forget your jacket at home. The rain was coming down so hard that I could barely see and by the time I got to the park, I was completely soaked and shivering from the stiff wind that pierced through my t-shirt and pants. As I walked into the park I saw a blurry outline of a person sitting in one of the benches.

"Leaf?" The figure turned around.

"LEAF!" I ran over and saw her long brown hair that was darker than usual because of the rain. Her white shirt was soaked, showing her bra. I automatically looked away from it and up at her.

"Gary, you came."

"As if I wouldn't."

"I...I-" She crashed into me. First a hug and then a kiss. She tasted like rain mixed with a faint hint of lavender. After I got over the initial shock of having Leaf Green kissing me, I eagerly responded. Her hands were clamped firmly on my head, as though I would pull away. So I snaked my hands onto her hips, where they stayed. Her hands tangled into my hair, pulling hard. I gasped in pain as she bit my lip. She grinned against my lips and pulled away. Her arms slipped around me and I held her close, not willing to let go. She pressed her forehead against mine and closed her eyes.

"God, I've been waiting to do that for so long." I still hadn't the ability to speak, so I said something like 'Uh-duh'. She chuckled.

"As much as I don't want to stop this, it's cold, so..." I nodded and put my arm around her. I regained my ability to speak.

"Let's go."

* * *

It rained for the rest of the week and into the weekend. We had decided against telling anyone about what had happened, so we didn't really have the chance to meet up without it looking suspicious. On Sunday, the rain cleared and Ash drug me out of the house, claiming that everyone was meeting at the park. So when we got there, EVERYONE was there. Dawn immediately had come and claimed her boyfriend and they started goofing around in the fountain. Again, not _that _kind of goofing off, but it was still rather funny when Dawn tackled Ash and they started making out in the fountain, earning a very large reaction from the student body who still didn't know they were dating. So I just meandered around, talking with Drew, Paul and some of the other jocks like Jason and Frank who were hanging out with an African-american girl and a black-haired girl who had looked at me with a critical gaze that felt like she was gazing into my soul. I quickly excused myself because it was rather scary. There was a massive group around a scrawny Mexican kid who was pulling stuff out of a large belt and building what looked to be an end table. He was exchanging joking words with a Native-American girl with choppy hair. Among the group, there was a few rather distinctive people who I recognized from school. The swimmer who was dating a straight IB girl with curly blonde hair, the boy who was always in black with a girl that looked a bit like Jason, twins who looked like they were always planning something, and the Asian barbie doll. I moved on, looking for Leaf. I asked May where she was and she just shrugged before running off.

I couldn't find her so I just went for a walk. I walked along the path that was covered by a canopy of colors. Red, orange, yellow. As I came upon a clearing, I saw her, sitting among the late flowers. I walked over and sat next to her.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Whatcha doing?"

"Thinking."

"What about?"

"Stuff. Us."

"Us?"

"Do you want an Us?"

"Yes."

"Good. Me too." She kissed me, wrapping her arms around me. I just smiled and replied. She was beautiful like usual, but Autumn brought out a new side to her. Just like the leaves in the fall that change, becoming even more beautiful, so did she. She was my Leaf in the fall.

* * *

**There you go! Some Oldrival Shipping fluff along with a few cute Pearl moments! This was really fun to write but I had to study for finals. IT"S WINTER BREAK! YES! Expect some more updates on both this and Christmas Surprises since I've got lots of time to write these things! **

**Did any of you catch the cameos that I threw in? Leave a review if you did and try to guess which ships I support in that fandom! (It's literally like the largest fandom out there.) Anyways, I hope you liked it!**

**Thanks,**

**Court**

**P.S.  
If you try to google the key names, it comes up with a guy who played the green ranger in Power Rangers. lol**


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